Self-styled 'healer', aide dupe Thane businessman of Rs 56 lakh

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A man claiming to be a "healer" and his associate have allegedly cheated a businessman from Thane in Maharashtra of Rs 56.2 lakh under the pretext of providing him a herbal treatment for his ailments, police said on Sunday, reported PTI.

The two accused had been supplying medicines to the 75-year-old victim through courier from November last year. But the victim did not experience any improvement in his health after consuming the medicines, reported PTI.

The accused later called the victim to Gaimukh Chowpatty on Ghodbunder Road in the city and allegedly forced him to consume a medicine mixed with various herbal substances, an official from Kasarvadavali police station said, reported PTI.

The accused then claimed that the cost of the treatment was Rs 56 lakh and allegedly threatened the victim with dire consequences if he failed to pay. They also warned him that people would be sent to his residence to recover the money and photographs taken during his illness would be circulated online to defame him, the official said.

Out of fear, the victim paid Rs 20,000 in cash and later transferred various amounts in instalments, totalling Rs 56.2 lakh, but the accused continued demanding more money, reported PTI.

Based on a complaint lodged by the victim, the police registered a case against the accused under sections 308(2) (extortion), 318(2), 318(3) (cheating), 277 (sale or distribution of adulterated drugs or medical preparations) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the official said.

Two held from Jharkhand for defrauding man by creating fake profile of Palghar collector

In another in case, two individuals have been apprehended from Dhanbad in Jharkhand for allegedly creating a fake social media account in the name of the Palghar district collector and duping a local resident of Rs 50,000, a senior officer said, reported PTI.

The cyber wing of the police also managed to recover the entire defrauded amount from the accused.

Palghar Superintendent of Police Yatish Deshmukh on Friday said the accused allegedly contacted the complainant, a resident of Vagulsar in Palghar (west), on May 17 on WhatsApp, and requested a transfer of Rs 50,000 to a bank account, reported PTI.

"The unknown fraudster had set his WhatsApp profile photo to that of the District Collector and falsely projected an identity of 'District Collector Indu Rani Jakhar'. By gaining the trust of the complainant, the fraudster sent a message requesting him to urgently transfer Rs 50,000 to a bank account number provided in the chat," said Deshmukh.

The unsuspecting complainant transferred the money. However, he realised that he had been cheated by an impersonator who used the District Collector's photograph.

Based on a complaint lodged by him, a case was registered at the Cyber Police Station under sections 318(4)(Cheating) and 319(2)( cheating by personation ) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) along with sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, the SP said.

"The technical investigation successfully traced the digital footprints to Jharkhand. A police team subsequently conducted a raid in Dhanbad district and arrested two accused individuals, Deshmukh added.

The accused duo is identified as Balwant Kumar Kamal Prasad Mandal (26) and Rajukumar Dukhan Ravani (22), police said, reported PTI.

The entire stolen amount of Rs 50,000 has been successfully seized from them. Further investigation into the network of these cyber criminals is underway.

(With inputs from PTI)